Why do fans tolerate poor broadcasting?

[Caveira]

9 minutes ago, Alces Alces Gigas said:

Watch the matches on BIG 10 Plus that's where the kids come into the broadcast picture no matter the team

You’ll have to answer some of the questions above.  I figure you came here hoping to get 50 people to agree with you and bag on these kids.  The reality is.  Wrestling is a #8-10ish most popular sport in men’s ncaa sports.  There isn’t a qualified army of announcers sitting in their basement not working these duals.   Plenty of knuckle heads here still bag on shame sparks or Tim Johnson or Burroughs or Dan gable who are some of the top tier announcers.  Wrestling fans are some of the grumpiest fans out there.   I remember arguing with people who didn’t want to pay for espn or espn plus to watch NCAAs.  Where do you want this to go back to?   When iptv was basically the only place to watch?
 

fact of the matter is.  This is the absolute Mecca of wrestling when it comes to access to matches.  You can basically see every match of every tournament now if you want to.  You can see every dual meet if you want to.   Every second of every match at NCAAs is basically free.    A few years back you only got 3/4/5 duals a year And maybe the ncaa finals.    Then they added semis quarters consis etc.   

[BruceyB]

19 minutes ago, buckshot said:

The kids who don't know the rules are actually kind of funny. The only problem with it is if a casual/non-wrestling fan were to hear them they'd actually know less about the sport than if they muted it.

I agree, it both makes me shake my head and laugh. I don't know how many casual/non-wrestling fans are tuning in to a B1G+ wrestling dual to begin with, my guess is less than a few. It doesn't really bother me, like it's been said, it's a chance for young hopeful sports announcers to get some experience to put on their resume.

[MNRodent]

24 minutes ago, Alces Alces Gigas said:

Watch the matches on BIG 10 Plus that's where the kids come into the broadcast picture no matter the team

Gophers use some of their former star wrestlers, Mack Reiter and others, for home Big Ten duals.

[AgaveMaria]

Don't know, but maybe they are students learning the process?

A number of things hurt broadcasts. Mumbling announcers. Those who don't do any homework and can't pronounce the names of the wrestlers. Camera operators who leave them on auto exposure so as they focus around the mat the exposure changes - too light to too dark. It is easy to measure the light, set the aperture & go from there.

A big problem with attracting fans is the lack of information as to what is going on with "the brick" and referee timeouts and sideline meetings.

They go off, watch some video, come back and at times not even a gesture, much less any explanation as to what happened or their decision. College & Pro football refs have it down - INFORM the fans. Make their experience one why want to repeat.

Poor broadcasting can be fixed. The attitude that allows it to keep happening is the fault of those in charge - they need to be replaced and someone who will actually do the job hired.

[Alces Alces Gigas]

Not bagging on the "kids".    I'm bagging (whatever that means) on those who thought having kids broadcast to the world was a great idea    I pay for BIG 10 Plus and expect better.     Not knowing rules.   Slow to put scores on screen. No riding time on screen.    Cameras not following the action. Its all BS 

 

The whole crappy streaming is another issue all together that has been discussed here a bunch.   

 

 

[Caveira]

Wrestling totally corners the market on bad broadcasting : announcers.   I feel like someone is cherry picking from lower tiered events vs the big ones 

 

[ILLINIWrestlingBlog]

2 minutes ago, MNRodent said:

Gophers use some of their former star wrestlers, Mack Reiter and others, for home Big Ten duals.

Mack is real good, and between him and his partner, they can be very funny. Bonus. 

When you think about it many TV announcers can't be experts on the topic that comes up. Breaking news is an example. The nuances of riding time are another. Still, the Big Ten conference should be there to do what they can to make sure their announcers succeed. 

For as little as $40k, the conference can bring in our team to prepare their announcers for most eventualities, especially if those eventualities have anything to do with strippers, bar fights and Ric Flair. 

[Alces Alces Gigas]

Love Shane Sparks but damn why the forced pluralization of singular words?!?!

[Caveira]

Chat gpt yes.  But this may have something to do with it.   Gotta drive revenue.  Views.    More clicks for wrestling to get better coverage.  Again.  We can see somewhere between 83-100% if all matches now so we’re complaining about our best times: 
 

BTN+ is a subscription-based streaming service operated by the Big Ten Network (BTN), focusing on live and on-demand coverage of Big Ten sports events. While specific revenue breakdowns for BTN+ by sport are not publicly available, we can infer which sports likely contribute most to its revenue by considering overall viewership trends and the prominence of certain sports within the Big Ten Conference.

Football and Men's Basketball: These two sports are traditionally the most popular and generate significant interest among fans. They attract large audiences, both in stadiums and via broadcasts, and are often the primary drivers of revenue for collegiate athletic programs. For instance, the Big Ten Conference has secured substantial media rights deals, with football and men's basketball being central to these agreements.

 

Other Sports: While football and men's basketball are the primary revenue generators, other sports also contribute to BTN+'s offerings. Sports such as women's basketball, volleyball, wrestling, and hockey have dedicated fan bases and receive coverage on BTN+. However, the revenue generated from these sports is generally less than that from football and men's basketball.

[alex1fly]

Demand better to BTN+ rather than to a forum? Might be something to try 

[Scouts Honor]

On 1/11/2025 at 1:15 PM, Alces Alces Gigas said:

I knew some fella was gonna come up with the same tired answer! "Back in my day we had to..........

I knew some fellas was gonna come up with the same tired whine about announcing 

[Dogbone]

On 1/11/2025 at 5:12 PM, Alces Alces Gigas said:

Not bagging on the "kids".    I'm bagging (whatever that means) on those who thought having kids broadcast to the world was a great idea    I pay for BIG 10 Plus and expect better.     Not knowing rules.   Slow to put scores on screen. No riding time on screen.    Cameras not following the action. Its all BS 

 

The whole crappy streaming is another issue all together that has been discussed here a bunch.   

 

 

It's not like there is an abundance of quality wrestling announcers out there and someone is saying let's use these kids instead.    I look at as I am paying to watch the matches, I don't pay for the commentary.   Usually the tournament coverage early rounds (B1Gs, Soldier Solute, Midlands) don't even have commentary, just the arena sounds.

Plus, by using these kids its getting they get more announcers proficient at it and more people learning about wrestling.  No one is going to be great their first time.  

When the  student broadcast first started,  Nebraska had a terrible one that got made fun of on boards for his lack of knowledge, but the more student broadcast that happen the better the "kids" are getting.

[KennyEBHS]

On 1/11/2025 at 11:56 AM, BAC said:

How does one do that, exactly?

What’s your proposal?

The kids who announce the BIG+ matches are college students. And just like any college endeavor, they should have to learn the rules and take an exam.  

[ionel]

25 minutes ago, KennyEBHS said:

The kids who announce the BIG+ matches are college students. And just like any college endeavor, they should have to learn the rules and take an exam.  

Who do you recommend to write the exam questions, maybe Gibbons and Johnson?  

1 - When should you bring your hips to the party

a)  after 3 or 4 beers,

b)  after two shots of bourbon,

c)  after a double leg shot or

d)  any of the above

2 - ...

[BAC]

29 minutes ago, KennyEBHS said:

The kids who announce the BIG+ matches are college students. And just like any college endeavor, they should have to learn the rules and take an exam.  

That's all well and good, but how do you plan to impose that directive on the Big Ten Network?  We have basically zero clout.

The original question was, "Why do fans tolerate poor broadcasting?"  I think the answer is "Because we have to."  I mean really, how much leverage do you think we have? 

Even if you could impose that requirement on B1G+, would you?  I wouldn't.  I'd worry that the network would just say, yeah, thanks but no thanks, we'll broadcast more swimming and volleyball instead.  No skin off their back, and I'm sure they have zero interest in writing up some sort of wrestling quiz, which I'm sure they don't have for other sports either. I suspect all the other smaller sports on B1G+ have inexperienced announcers too, and they'll cater who whoever doesn't make them spend a bunch of extra money.

As it is, I *highly* doubt that Big 10 Network makes any real money from these broadcasts.  They're probably required to put on wrestling broadcasts as part of their contract with the Big 10 Conference, in which they had to agree to broadcast the minor sports in order to get the rights to broadcast the real moneymaking sports, e.g. basketball and football.  

It's not just Big 10, of course.  Have you ever seen the Olympic wrestling broadcast with those two Scottish dudes, who sound like the only wrestling match they saw is the ones they were forced to watch at the Olympics?  NBC has had those same two knuckleheads for about three straight Olympics.  Again, my guess is wrestling sees airtime on NBC because the IOC made them broadcast it as part of their contract.  It was the price of admission to get broadcast rights to the more heavily watched sports.   It isn't like they're making money off the wrestling broadcast.

So yeah, there's bad announcers out there, but I just can't bring myself to get all exorcised about it.  I suppose we could start some social media movement and say "no more watching matches on the Big 10 Network until they step up their announcer game," but that'll just result lower Nielson ratings and fewer matches broadcast as a result.  Most of the airtime wrestling has is part of a package deal, and I'm just not convinced that ruffling their feathers with boycotts or angry letters will be more helpful than harmful.  The only one with clout are the conferences with the TV contract, so if you're going to complain, relay it to them, but don't expect they'll do much as wrestling viewership is so tiny as it is.

Bottom line:  For those that are reliant on wrestling fans (e.g. flowrestling), we have more leverage, but for Big Ten Network and NBC and other league networks, just take what we get.  Sorry if that sounds defeatist, but I'm just being realistic here.

[666]

I was watching a match recently and the kids calling the matches kept referring to them as "games". I turned down the sound and put on some Hendricks. 

[fishbane]

Anyone remember the Nebraska-PSU student announcers from years ago?  They had no clue what they were watching.  So many stallmates and illegal leg trips.  Were these recent broadcasts as bad as this?  I doubt it.

https://youtu.be/7E7TQMFXYHA?si=SCVz5pSve_9cRqK8

https://youtu.be/f8zKqv8drxQ?si=gAeY5pFve82F4mpU

 

[ionel]

28 minutes ago, 666 said:

I was watching a match recently and the kids calling the matches kept referring to them as "games". I turned down the sound and put on some Hendricks. 

... would you rather they refer to it as a "party?" 

[Spencerlee]

Because a lot of the time they are volunteering their time and are doing their best. People who bash new broadcasters learning the sport are the same people who gatekeep wrestling from new fans whenever they get the chance.

[flyingcement]

4 minutes ago, Spencerlee said:

Because a lot of the time they are volunteering their time and are doing their best. People who bash new broadcasters learning the sport are the same people who gatekeep wrestling from new fans whenever they get the chance.

I think while it may be tempting to laugh at their expense, for a sport that is dying in numbers, we would be better served to be more inclusive to those that are trying to learn the sport.  

[ionel]

1 hour ago, ionel said:

Who do you recommend to write the exam questions, maybe Gibbons and Johnson?  

1 - When should you bring your hips to the party

a)  after 3 or 4 beers,

b)  after two shots of bourbon,

c)  after a double leg shot or

d)  any of the above

2 - ...

2 - Shoe laces should be

a)  up,

b)  down,

c)  tied in a double knot or

d)  always the same color? 

[KennyEBHS]

1 hour ago, ionel said:

Who do you recommend to write the exam questions, maybe Gibbons and Johnson?  

1 - When should you bring your hips to the party

a)  after 3 or 4 beers,

b)  after two shots of bourbon,

c)  after a double leg shot or

d)  any of the above

2 - ...

 

[KennyEBHS]

1 minute ago, KennyEBHS said:

Don't be a jerk. Any of the college wrestlers on the roster could write the exam.

 

[Caveira]

42 minutes ago, KennyEBHS said:

 

Wrestling fans are the worst.   What @flyingcementsaid above is correct.  
 

they are the worst to the fans….. and the athletes.   How often do people call 30+ seeds at NCAAs garbage or bottom level big 10 teams crapola. when these guys really are the top 1% of the sport and I’ll bet the vast majority of the posters never even scratched that high of an achievement.  Cranky old dudes belly aching lol.  

[Tripnsweep]

Still waiting for another first to the back call. 

I think somebody here said those Nebraska guys were told they were doing the broadcast like 10 minutes beforehand and nobody had ever explained wrestling to them, so they had no idea what anything was.